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A View from Academy Member
Laurence Green, director of effectiveness, IPA
“Our first duty is not to the old sales curve, it is to the audience.”
So advised legendary ad man Howard Gossage, the so-called ‘Socrates of San Francisco’, whose swashbuckling work has recently been revisited in a fine book by Steve Harrison and Dave Dye.
Counter-cultural as it was in a market fixated then and now on direct sales, Gossage’s point was not that sales don’t matter but rather that sales spring most reliably from the goodwill that interesting advertising can create.
“Nobody reads ads. People read what interests them, and sometimes that’s an ad.”
Gossage also said this memorable line, and it’s a truth that resonates decades on. It is my shorthand for this month’s cream of the TV crop, an audience-friendly bunch with varying nods to the sales curve and variable commitment to ‘interesting’.
Just Eat smuggles product news in with a gag, topped with a line that’s now as familiar as my furniture. Half a Gossage.
In “Basketball vs. Northern Soul”, Lucozade certainly starts out from an interesting place but pulls its punches, one eye on the sales curve. Half a Gossage also.
Andrex charts so determined a path to ‘interesting’ that I'm left feeling much like its beautifully bemused washroom threshold puppy. Maybe I need time to get comfortable with ‘get comfortable’.
The full Gossage is reserved for Frontline19 and Avios, albeit they could not be further apart on the execution spectrum. The one enraging, the other engaging: first duty done, ‘old sales curve’ to follow.
Who will the Thinkbox Academy vote for? And who gets your vote? Tweet us @ThinkboxTV using #Thinkboxes and view all the previous winners at www.thinkbox.tv/creative/the-thinkboxes
The Thinkboxes shortlist – March/April 2024
1. Andrex: “Post poo euphoria”
Andrex wants to revolutionise public conversation around bathroom habits. It can be the root of crippling anxieties for many, which can lead to avoiding going to the toilet away from home, addressing obvious bowel issues, and even looking at our own poo. Part of Andrex’s new “Get comfortable” campaign, “Post poo euphoria” deploys humour and relatable scenarios to turn toilet taboos into open, positive dialogues. By transforming embarrassment into comfort, it hopes to promote healthier lifestyles and awareness of the Andrex brand.
Agency: FCB London Creative team: Owen Lee, chief creative officer; Kyle Harman-Turner, executive creative director; Jack Walker, head of art Client: Matt Stone, marketing director UK&I, Kimberly-Clark Production company: Andreas Nilsson Director: Biscuit Filmworks
2. Avios: “Everyday”
People undertake everyday tasks such as grocery shopping, drinking a coffee and ordering an Uber, all while riding e-foil surfboards across a serene bay — metaphorically spending their way to the holiday of their dreams – in this new spot for Avios. Choreographed by James Bond stunt coordinator Boris Martinez, the ad is shot in-camera and uses professional e-foilers. Set to the track Seasons (Waiting on You) by Future Islands, it addresses the misconception that you only collect Avios points through booking flights. It spotlights how members can collect Avios points through a broad variety of everyday transactions, which enables them to make their dream holiday a reality far sooner.
Agency: Uncommon Creative Studio Creative team: Uncommon Creative Studio Client: Elizabeth Cunningham, loyalty head of brand and marketing, IAG Loyalty Production company: Pulse Films Director: Sam Walker
3. Frontline19: “Sicker than the patients”
Informed by the shocking statistics that more than half of NHS workers suffer from poor mental health, and one in four NHS staff have considered suicide, this two-minute spot harnesses the style of CCTV footage to capture how NHS workers really feel when they’re left alone. It opens with a sombre and eerie shot of a worker staring at the inside of an ambulance after treating a patient, left in shock at the scene they have just witnessed. It ends with an appeal to donate to the charity Frontline19 so NHS workers can get the emotional support they need.
Agency: adam&eveDDB Creative team: Richard Brim, chief creative officer; Ant Nelson, executive creative director; Mike Sutherland, executive creative director; Richard Gayton, creative director/art director; Darren Beresford, creative director/copywriter Client: Claire Goodwin-Fee, CEO and founder, Frontline19 Production company: BJZ Director: Henry Hobson
4. Just Eat: “The joy of everyday - I didn’t know”
This spot is one of nine captivating Wes Anderson-style 20-second films featuring relatable animal characters who personify customer cohorts. Each uses puppetry and stop-frame animation to delve into the colourful lives of the animal characters and celebrate how food can enrich life’s day-to-day moments. The aim of bringing joy to everyday convenience is at the core of the creative and supports the brand’s shift in focus away from ‘takeaway’ to ‘everything’. The puppets were designed and handmade by Arch Model Studio, the team behind Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr Fox and Isle of Dogs.
Agency: McCann London Creative team: Rob Webster, creative director; Alexei Berwitz, creative director; Olly Wood, creative director; Matt Searle, creative director Client: Victoria Gold, UK&I marketing director, Just Eat UK Production company: Arts & Sciences Director: Tim McNaughton
5. Lucozade: “Bring the energy”
This spot launched the first campaign under a new masterbrand platform bringing together Lucozade Energy and Sports drinks for the first time in the brand’s 97-year history. In it, a basketball team and a group of Northern Soul fans turn up to the same sports hall to find it has been double-booked. Rather than argue, however, the two groups share the space and begin to play basketball and dance around each other – fuelled by Lucozade. Blending the moves of basketball players and dancers, the film was choreographed by Supple Nam.
Agency: adam&eveDDB Creative team: Christian Sewell, creative director; Andy McAnaney, creative director; Richard Brim, chief creative officer Client: Holly Fergusson, head of core brand & strategy, Lucozade Production company: Rogue Director: Sam Brown
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Thinkbox is the marketing body for commercial TV in the UK, in all its forms. Its shareholders are Channel 4, ITV, Sky Media and UKTV. Thinkbox works with the marketing community with a single ambition: to help advertisers get the best out of today’s TV.
